OTTAWA -- One day past the NHL trade deadline, rookie Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion is looking pretty shrewd.

His much-criticized decision to deal a top prospect for a 35-year-old winger paid immediate dividends when Alex Burrows scored both goals in Ottawa's 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.

"Wonder what people think of the trade now," Senators coach Guy Boucher said after his team rebounded from an ugly 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning while improving its record to 34-22-6. "What I like about Alex is, already on the bench, he's starting to do his thing. He gets the shots on the first goal and the second goal, but he blocked shots, he had some huge hits. He's just a relentless guy."

Burrows, who spent 12 years in Vancouver before he was acquired for Jonathan Dahlen, recorded the 21st two-goal game of his career.

"It was nice, for sure," Burrows said. "I said in the morning that it would be the best day if we could win and we found a way to get it done. I was really impressed by the way everyone competed. A lot of guys were blocking shots, paying the price, being physical.

"I like the way we played. There's a lot of good players here and if we play the right way, we'll have some success. Tonight was definitely a step in the right direction."

Craig Anderson stopped 22 shots for the win, improving his record to 5-2 since returning from a two-month absence to be with his wife, who is battling cancer.

Rene Bourque scored the only goal for the Avalanche (17-42-3), while Calvin Pickard made 40 saves in goal.

The one he'd like back was Burrows' first shot, at 8:39 of the opening period, that beat him from the left-wing face-off circle.

"He let in a soft one early and then was great the rest of the way," said Colorado coach Jared Bednar.

"It sunk a bit," said Pickard, when asked if the shot deflected off the stick of Avalanche defenseman Patrick Wiercioch. "I'm not sure. I'd have to look at it again. It's an unfortunate start, for sure."

Burrows received some teasing from his new teammates after the goal.

"The boys said it was a heavy shot," Burrows said with a grin. "They thought it was really heavy. They were surprised how heavy it was.

"I'm sure the boys were making fun of me."

Mike Hoffman assisted on both Burrows' goals while Senators captain Erik Karlsson was strong at both ends with six shots and six blocked shots.

"We lost the last game (5-1 to Tampa on Monday), and you look how tight it is (in the standings), there is no time for loosey-goosey, to be honest with you," Boucher said when asked about playing the last-place Avalanche in the first game back from a four-game road trip.

"It's not about them -- whether it's a green jersey, a red jersey or blue. It doesn't matter who we play. We have to be ourselves. We have to be hungry."

The Avalanche, who were the focus of trade day with rumors that star forwards Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog were on the block, are 2-9-1 in their last 12 games.

"We played a pretty good first period and the third one was good, too," said winger Mikko Rantanen. "We were a little bit sloppy in the second, a lot of turnovers. Otherwise, I think we had a solid effort. We just didn't get enough goals. We have to give a little credit to Ottawa, too, they defended really well."

And they received a storybook performance from Burrows.

"It's nice," Burrows said of scoring in his debut. "Obviously, a little relief. It's just getting pucks on net, I think. If you keep doing the right things over and over, you're going to get some results. That's one thing we used to talk about in Vancouver, getting pucks on net. We hear the same message here.

"You get pucks there, sometimes good things are going to happen."

NOTES: Senators RW Mike Hoffman has four assists in the last three games. ... Senators D Fredrik Claesson was scratched. ... Senators D Jyrki Jokipakka, acquired in Wednesday's trade for Curtis Lazar, participated in the morning skate but was scratched. ... Senators C Chris DiDomenico was scratched. ... Avalanche RW Sven Andrighetto, acquired from the Canadiens on Wednesday, is completing formalities to allow him to work in the US and will join the team when it returns to Colorado next week. ... Avalanche D Cody Goloubef was scratched. ... Avalanche LW JT Compher played his first NHL game. ... Senators D Erik Karlsson tied a franchise record by playing his 311th consecutive game.